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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26024335">The Secret Affair</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Partypandas00/pseuds/Partypandas00'>Partypandas00</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>His Dark Materials (TV), His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman, The Golden Compass (2007)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 06:41:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>846</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26024335</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Partypandas00/pseuds/Partypandas00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>This is the story of the affair between Marisa Coulter and Lord Asriel Belacqua, and the lengths they went too to protect their daughter, Lyra Belacqua.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Edward Coulter/Marisa Coulter, Lord Asriel/Marisa Coulter, Marisa Coulter &amp; Marisa Coulter's Daemon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Secret Affair</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Marisa was in the bedroom, getting ready for the night ahead. As she finished applying her make-up, she placed the brush back down onto the dressing table and stared at her reflection, she sighed. Normally she would be thrilled to be heading out to one of Edwards political parties, but tonight she wished she was doing anything else. Recently she’d noticed Edward has become a little more controlling into what she did or did not do and it was beginning to frighten her, but she couldn’t do anything about that, she didn’t want to ruin the life she had got to all because of a silly little thing. Her dæmon stood up on two legs and placed his hands on the chair, she looked down at him, knowing he sensed her troubles, “Not now!” she said to him and then stood up and picked up her clutch bag and checked she had everything she needed. A moment later Edward came to the door of the room, “Ready?” he said, in more of a demand than a question, Marisa looked round at him, she nodded, “Speak properly!” he demanded, “Yes…” Marisa said, then walked on over, she linked her arm into his and they walked out of the apartment.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The car ride to the Royal Arctic Institute was long and silent, the atmosphere made Marisa tense, she would occasionally glance over at her husband, wondering what he was thinking. They arrived and Marisa made to open the door but Edward took her arm, “You will behave tonight, won’t you” he said firmly, “I don’t want a repeat of last time” Marisa sighed but agreed, knowing fine well the incident he was referring too. She had been chatting to one of the explorers at a party and Edward had interpreted that as Marisa flirting, he had been angry at her, even when she had explained it was all innocent, he didn’t believe her. Edward got out the car, Marisa waited a moment and closed her eyes, trying to work up the courage to follow.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>During the party Marisa was told to stay close to Edward at all times, they talked to many explorers and politicians throughout the night. Edward was in the middle of speaking to a high politician, and Marisa was gazing around the room. She then caught sight of a young man across the room. She watched him closely; he was tall, which short brown hair, stubble and wearing a smart, black suit. Beside him was a snow leopard dæmon.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The man obviously sensed he was being watched and he turned his head to look at Marisa, who looked away quickly, blushing. Suddenly she saw the man walking over to them, Marisa shifted slightly from foot to foot, “Mr Lawson” the man said, making both men stop their conversation and turn, Marisa kept her eyes focused on anything but the man in front of them, “Lord Asriel?” Mr Lawson said, “This is a rare pleasure” they shook hands, “Yes, I’m back only a few weeks and then I’ll be off again” Asriel explained, “Ah, forgive me, Edward this it Lord Asriel Belacqua. A fine explorer of the Arctic. Lord Asriel, this is Edward Coulter, and his wife Marisa” Mr Lawson said, introducing everyone.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Asriel shook hands with Edward, he then turned to Marisa and took her hand and kissed it softly, Marisa felt herself blush again, “Pleasure to meet you both” he said, “Tell me, what do you specialise in?” Edward asked Asriel, who turned away from Marisa to look at Edward, “Elementary Particles mostly, I’m a bit of a science man” Asriel explained, “I have always found that area quite fascinating” Marisa said, “Are you working on anything at the moment?” Asriel turned to her, “I’m between investigation at the moment” he told her, Marisa nodded slightly, “If you’ll excuse me” Asriel said, he nodded to them all before walking off again. As Edward and Mr Lawson went back to their conversation, Marisa kept her focus on Asriel, watching him as he wandered off to the other side of the room.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Later on, once they were back home, Marisa was in the bathroom getting ready for bed. She went over to the mirror and took the clasp from her hair and let it fall down to her shoulders. She stared at herself in the mirror for a moment, “You’re thinking about him” her dæmon said to her, she looked down at him, “I’m not!” she retorted back, “You can’t hide anything from me, no matter how hard you try” he told her, Marisa looked away again, “I like them” the golden monkey muttered. Marisa ignored him and made her way back to the bedroom.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Edward was already in bed, fast asleep so Marisa slowly got into the other side, careful not to wake him and lay on her back, staring up at the ceiling, her hand across her stomach. As much as she hated to admit it, her dæmon was right. All through the night, all she could think of was that man. Asriel Belacqua.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry, this is quite short, I really just want to upload a sample chapter to see if you folks would be interested in this story. Please let me know in the comments if you'd like me to write more</p></blockquote></div></div>
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